71 
15 
17 
?V 1 



ROBERT BAYLEY 

The First Schoolmaster 

in Falmouth 

(Portland) Maine 

and Some of His Descendants 



^W- 



AKCIIIF. LEE TALBOT 



ROBERT BAYLEY 

The First Schoolmaster 

in Falmouth 

(Portland) Maine 

and Some of His Descendants 



By Archie Lee Talbot 



Reprint from Sprague's Journal of Maine History, Vol. IV, No. 3. 
(Limited edition of 50 copies) 

1917 



'43 

/ 






Robert Bayley, the First Schoolmas- 
ter in Falmouth (Portland) Maine 
and Some of His Descendants 

By Archie Lee Talbot, Lewiston, Maine. 

(Read before the Maine Historical Society, May 24, 1916) 

Gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost. John VI:i2. 

In the spirit of this command we have endeavored to gather up 
the fragments of records that remain which preserve all that is 
known of a once active and useful life in the early days of what is 
now Portland and adjoining towns. The story we have to present 
might be truthfully given under the title, "A Week in Alfred," with 
the thirty-five volumes of York Deeds, in the period when York 
County embraced what is now the State of Maine. 

We ask your patience while we examine the fragments of records 
that remain, which have been gathered from all known sources. 

Two days before the fire, in Portland, that destroyed the former 
City Hall, we copied all that related to Robert Bayley, in the 
original records of Old Falmouth, that were in the custody of the 
city clerk, which were burned in that fire and forever lost. 

Robert Bayley, a resident of Biddeford, Maine, was admitted a 
proprietor in Falmouth, August 17, 1727, his name being the first 
in a list of sixteen prominent persons admitted at that time. Con- 
spicuous among them is the name of Colonel Thomas Westbrook, 
of Portsmouth, N. H., who was in command of the military forces 
on the Eastern frontier, in 1721-23, now in the State of Maine, 
and who established his residence at Stroudwater, where he built a 
garrison house, and later a paper mill, and whose name is per- 
petuated in that part of old Falmouth, that is now Westbrook. 
The conditions of admission as proprietors in Falmouth were that 
they each pay ten pounds, and settle on their lot in twelve months, 
and not alienate them until they had lived on the same seven years. 
These conditions were faithfully complied with by the proprietors 
named. 

In February, 1728, a house lot was granted to Robert Bayley, on 
the south side of Middle street, where Plum street has since been 
bid out. 



Falmouth (formerly called Casco Bay) was incorporated in 1718. 
As early as 1647, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay 
Colony, made provision for schools in towns in the Colony. 

In 1692 the following Act was passed by the Province of Massa- 
chusetts Bay: 

And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every town 
within this province, having the number of fifty householders or upwards, 
shall be constantly provided of a school-master to teach children and youth 
to read and write; and where any town or towns have the number of one 
hundred families or householders, there shall also be a grammar school set 
up in every such town, and some discreet person of good conversation, well 
instructed in the tongues, procured to keep such school, every such school- 
master to be suitably encouraged and paid by the inhabitants ; and the 
selectmen and inhabitants of such towns respectively shall take effectual 
care, and make due provision for the settlement and maintenance of such 
school-tnaster. 

And if any town, qualified as before expressed, shall neglect the due 
observance of this act, for the procuring and settling of such school-master, 
as aforesaid, by the space of one year, every such defective town shall 
incur the penalty of ten pounds for every conviction of such neglect, upon 
complaint made unto their majesties' justices in quarter sessions for the 
same county in which such town lieth. 1 

By vote of the town of Falmouth, September 15, 1729, "the 
selectmen were requested to look out for a school-master to prevent 
the town being presented." 

Mr. Willis says : "It was not until 1726 that a number of families 
brought the town within the lowest provisions of the statutes." 2 

The first record of the employment of a school-master is in 
1733, when Robert Bayley was hired, at a salary of seventy pounds 
a year, to keep, "Six months on the Neck, three months at Pur- 
pooduck, and three on the north side of Back Cove." The next 
year he was required to keep two months each on the Neck, at 
Purpooduck, Stroudwater, Spurwink, New Casco, and Presump- 
scot, and his salary was raised to seventy-five pounds. In 1733, 
Purpooduck was made a Second Parish, and in 1735 his services 
were divided between the First and Second Parishes, seven months 
in the First and five in the Second. In 1736 he received six pounds 
extra as Grammar School-master. He taught the four years of 
1733, 1734, 1735, and 1736, in Falmouth, and the record that he 



C) Section 4, and part of Section 5, of Chapter XIII, Province Laws of 
Massachusetts Bay, Published by the General Court, 1814, p. 245. 
( 2 ) History of Portland, Maine, by William Willis, 1865 : 365. 



was "Grammar School-master'' in 1736, indicates that he taught 
the "tongues" as required by the law of the Province, which in 
Colonial days was Greek and Latin. In the Colonial Laws of 1671, 
is the following: 

Whereas the law requires every town consisting of one hundred families 
or upwards to set up a grammar school and appoint a master thereof, able 
to instruct youth, so as to fit them for the college. 3 

It appears by the town records of Scarborough that it was voted 
in 1737, "that Robert Bayley be school-master this year in the 
town ; that it be kept all the year on Black Point side and that Mr. 
Bayley be paid seventy-five pounds in lumber for his services." 

Mr. Southgate in his history of Scarborough, says : "Mr. Bayley 
is the earliest school teacher in town of whom we have any account 
whatever." 4 

Between February 8 and March 3, 1740, as appears by deeds of 
land and family history, Mr. Bayley became a resident of North 
Yarmouth. In 1749, he was town clerk in that town, and in 1750 
he was employed there as school -master. 

Robert Bayley was an extensive land owner in several townships 
in Maine, as indicated by the county registry of deeds. The record 
of these deeds have thus far escaped the ravages of time (Cum- 
berland County deeds just escaped in the burning of City Hall, 
where they were kept, and the York County deeds are in no safer 
place today), and in this record of land conveyance are preserved 
many items of historical interest not elsewhere to be found. This 
record clearly shows that this first school-master, in what is now 
Portland, was an active business man of that day ; it indicates his 
residence at the time the deeds were made with absolute certainty, 
and much condensed, is made a part of our story, viz. : 

Robert Bayley of Falmouth, conveyed to Samuel Proctor of Falmouth, 
by deed dated August 2, 1733, two tracts or parcels of land lying in town- 
ship of Falmouth, one containing sixty-three acres on the south side of 
Presumpscot River, the other tract or parcel of land containing ten acres on 
southerly side of Presumpscot. Consideration sixty-three pounds. 5 

Robert Bayley of Falmouth, conveyed to Isaac Ilsley and John Waite. 
both of Falmouth, by deed dated March, 1736-7 ''in equal halves" a certain 
tract or parcel of land lying in the township of Falmouth, containing 
about three acres, be the same more or less, the same lying on the North- 



( 3 ) Part of Section 4, of Chapter LXXXVIII, Laws of Massachusetts 
Bay Colony, Published by the General Court, 1814, p. 186. 

( 4 ) Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Vol. Ill: 168. 

( 5 ) York County Deeds, Book 16, Folio 43. 



west side of Back street, so called, together with the new dwelling house 
and my part of the fence thereon standing. Consideration three hundred 
and fifty pounds. Wife, Martha Bayley, releases dower. 6 

Robert Bayley of Falmouth, conveyed to Isaac Ilsley and John Waite, 
both of Falmouth, by deed dated March 12, 1736-7 "in equal halves" seventy - 
seven acres and a half of land in the Township of Falmouth, and at a 
place called Back Cove in Falmouth, and the same is a thirty acre lot laid 
out to me by the Committee of Falmouth, aforesaid, and two ten acre lots 
I purchased of my mother-in-law, Martha Millet of Falmouth, aforesaid 
widow, and twenty acres and a half of land I purchased of one Joseph 
Whitefoot of Salem. The two ten acre lots are bounded as follows : 

Beginning at a white oak tree marked one knotch standing near the 
western corner of thirty-acres of land laid out by the lot layers of Falmouth, 
to Thomas Millet of Falmouth, at a. place called the Back Cove. Consid- 
eration three hundred and ninety pounds. Wife, Martha Bayley, releases 
dower. 7 

Robert Bayley of Falmouth, conveyed to Andrew Libbee of Scarborough, 
by deed dated August 31, 1737, six acres of land more or less in Township 
of Scarborough. Consideration forty-two pounds. s 

Robert Bayley of Falmouth, conveyed to Zachariah Frasher of Ports- 
mouth, N. H., by deed dated March 1, 1736-7, ten acres of land yet to be 
laid out in the common and undivided land in township of Falmouth, being' 
part of the right which was returned to the heirs and assigns of Francis 
Jeffords, deed., by the proprietors of Falmouth, . aforesaid, which land we 
purchased "in equal halves" of our mother, Martha Millet. Consideration 
ten pounds. 9 

Thomas Ficket of Scarborough, conveyed to Robert Bayley of Falmouth, 
by deed dated May 11, 1737, six acres of land more or less, lying in the 
Township of Scarborough. Consideration eighty-five pounds. 10 

Robert Bayley of Falmouth, conveyed to Thomas Ficket of Scarborough, 
by deed dated June 8, 1737, one hundred and four acres of land in Falmouth 
on Purpoorduck side on the southerly side of fore river near to a place 
called Barran Hill, beginning at a stake in the corner of land that John 
Bayley purchased. Consideration one hundred and fifty-six pounds. 11 

Robert Bayley of North Yarmouth, conveyed to Elisha Donham of Scar- 
borough, by deed dated March 3, 1740, one and one-half acres of land, 
being two house lots granted by the town of Falmouth, on the southerly 
side of Middle street. Consideration one hundred and sixty pounds. 12 

Robert Bayley of North Yarmouth, conveyed to Benjamin Sweetser of 
Falmouth, by deed dated October 16, 1741, house and land in Falmouth, 



( 6 ) York County Deeds, Book 18, Folio 190. 

( 7 ) Ibid., Book 18, Folio 191. 

( 8 ) Ibid., Book 19, Folio 326. 

( 9 ) Ibid., Book 20, Folio 42. 

( 10 ) Ibid., Book 20, Folio 104. 
( M ) Ibid., Book 22, Folio 40. 
( 12 ) Ibid., Book 23, Folio 69. 



two and a half acres. Consideration four hundred pounds. Wife, Martha 
Bayley, releases dower. 13 

Robert Bayley of North Yarmouth conveyed to Benjamin Hartford of 
Scarborough, by deed dated October 3, 1749, fifty acres of land in Scar- 
borough. Consideration three hundred and fifty pounds. 14 

Benjamin Hartford of Scarborough, conveyed to Robert Bayley of North 
Yarmouth, by deed dated March 20, 1750, fifty acres of land with a house 
in said Scarborough. Consideration fifty pounds. 15 

Benjamin Sweetser of Falmouth, conveyed to Robert Bayley of North 
Yarmouth, by deed dated October 16, 1741, twenty-one acres of land in 
North Yarmouth, with house and barn. Consideration three hundred and 
seventy pounds. 16 

Robert Bayley of North Yarmouth, conveyed to Jacob Royall of Boston, 
by deed dated September 29, 1752, two hundred and forty acres of land 
in North Yarmouth, this being a conditional deed. Consideration three 
hundred and twenty pounds." 

Robert Bayley of North Yarmouth, conveyed to Jonathan Mitchell of 
North Yarmouth by deed dated September 15, 1753, twenty-one and a half 
acres of land in North Yarmouth with buildings. Consideration one hun- 
dred pounds. 18 

Benjamin Hartford to Robert Bayley of North Yarmouth, by deed dated 
September 15 1754, twenty-five acres of land in Scarborough. Consideration 
seventy-three pounds. 19 

Robert Bayley of North Yarmouth, conveyed to Nathan Winslow of 
Falmouth, by deed dated April 16, 1754, one half of sixty acres of land in 
Falmouth. Consideration seventeen pounds. 20 

Rev. Thomas Smith, the first Minister of the First Church in 
Falmouth writes : 

The first male teacher employed was Robert Bayley from Newbury. 21 
Mr. Willis in a foot note relating to Robert Bayley, writes : 
He probably came from Newbury where the Bayley family settled about 

1642. The ancestor was John who came from Chippenham, England, tc 

Salesbury, about 1639, with his son John, Jr., and died in Newbury in ioyi. 

A John Bayley was admitted an inhabitant here December 14, 1727, and 

Joseph in 1728. 22 

Rev. Thomas Smith and historian Willis were both in error about 

Robert Bayley as coming from Newbury, Mass., for the town 

13 ) York County Deeds, Book 27, Folio 49. 

14 ) Ibid., Book 27, Folio 264. 

15 ) Ibid., Book 29, Folio 62. 

16 ) Ibid., Book 29, Folio 94. 

17 ) Ibid., Book 31, Folio 49. 

18 ) Ibid., Book 31, Folio 130. 

19 ) Ibid., Book 32, Folio 63. 

20 ) Ibid., iBook 35, Folio 171. 

21 ) Smith and Deane's Journals, 1849: 70. 

22 ) History of Portland, Maine, by William Willis, 1865 : 366. 



records of North Yarmouth and the records of the First Church 
in that town conclusively prove that he came from Biddeford. 

Mr. Coffin in his history of Newbury, Mass., gives the names of 
the children of Joseph and Priscilla Bayley, who settled in Arundel, 
Maine, as follows : 

Rebecca, b. Oct. 25, 1675; Priscilla, b. Oct. 31, 1676; John, b. Sept. 16, 

1678; Joseph b. Jan. 28, 1681 ; Hannah, b. Sept. 9, 1683; Daniel, b. June 10, 

1686; Mary, b. June 9, 1688; Judith, b. Feb. II, 1690; Lydia, b. Nov. 25, 
169S; Sarah, b. Feb. 14, 1698. 23 

Mr. Bradbury in his history of Kennebunkport (Arundel), 
Maine, states that John Bayley came from Chippenham, Wiltshire, 
England, and was cast away at Pemaquid, in 1639, on his passage 
to this country, and died in 165 1. His son John settled in New- 
bury. Joseph, the fourth son of John, Jr., was born April 4, 
1648. He bought land of Nicholas Morey in 1700, and resided in 
Arundel till it was deserted in 1703. He returned in 1714, and 
was one of the selectmen in 1719, and was killed by the Indians, 
October, 1723, aged 75. His children were Noah, Daniel, and Anna 
who married Joseph Lessel. There was a Joseph Bayley in Fal- 
mouth, in 1742, who owned land in this town. He was probably 
son of Joseph of Arundel. 24 

Mr. Folsom in his history of Saco and Biddeford, gives the name 
of John Baylie among the early settlers. 25 

An item of interest relating to the Bailey family appeared in the 
Deering News, which we quote : 

Concerning Dea. John Bailey whose first child was born in Newbury, 
Mass., Oct. 30, 1722, and was admitted a citizen of Falmouth, Dec. 14, 1727, 
and who died at Libby's Corner, I will say I have much material : the same 
also concerning his brother, Joseph, whose first child was born at Newbury, 
Nov. 5, 1727, and who came to Falmouth and died near Saccarappa. 26 

Robert Bayley was the first of the Bayleys in Falmouth, but no 
record of his birth has been found, or anything to definitely indi- 
cate the names of his parents. Strong circumstantial evidence indi- 
cates that he was a descendant of John Bayley who came from 
Chippenham, Wiltshire, England, in 1639, whose sori, John, Jr., 
settled in Newbury, Mass. He was probably a grandson of Joseph 
Bayley, who settled in Arundel (Kennebunkport), Maine, and was 
killed by the Indians in 1723. The history of Newbury gives the 



O History of Newbury, Mass., by Joshua Coffin 1845 : 294. 

( 24 ) Hiistory of Kennebunkport, Maine, by Charles Bradbury, 1827: 226. 

( 25 ) History of Saco and Biddeford, Maine, by George Folsom. 1830: 33. 

( 26 ) Deering News, July 11, 1893, L. B. Chapman, Editor. 

8 



names of three of his sons, viz. : John, Joseph, and Daniel, and 
the history of Kennebunkport gives the names of two, Noah and 
Daniel. Discovery of positive proof of the relationship of Robert 
Bayley to the early settlers in Falmouth of the same family name, 
has not yet rewarded a most diligent search. 

Robert Bayley married Martha Millet, daughter of Thomas and 
Martha (Ingersol) Millet, of Falmouth. This is proved by the 
will of Martha Millet of Falmouth, widow of Thomas Millet. The 
first bequest in the will is : 

I give and bequeath to my son, Thomas Millet, the house & land lying 
in Falmouth, afores'd, the which his father purchased of Benjamin Larraby, 
as may appear by ye Deed thereof, and the last item is : I do hereby ordain 
& appoint my son-in-law, Robert Bayley of Falmouth, aforesd, to be my 
sole Executor of this my Last Will and Testament. 

The will dated November 12, 1734, was probated October 13, 

1741." 

The record of the original deed of house and land bequeathed in 
the will of widow Martha Millet to her son Thomas, is of much 
interest, and a portion of same is given as follows : 

I, Benjamin Larraby, of ye Town of North Yarmouth, in ye County of 
York, in ye Province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, know ye that 
I. ye sd Benjamin Larraby, for, and in consideration of ye full and just 
sum of thirty-three pounds ten shillings in hand paid, have Given, Granted, 
Sold, Conveyed, and Confirmed, unto Thomas Millet, of ye Town of Gloces- 
ter, in ye County of Essex, in ye Province, aforesaid, a certain house, and 
tract or tracts of land or lands, lying and being in ye Township of Falmouth, 
aforesaid, said house being between ye house of Thorns Comming and 
Robert Williams wth one acre of land lying and adjoining on ye Westerly 
side on ye land now in ye possession of ye said Thorns Cummings Land, 
and ye land of Robert Williams, together wth a three acre lot and a thirty 
acre lot according to ye town vote, said thirty acre lot being ye fourth lot 
in number towards Brimhalls. 

Deed dated May 3, 1722. 28 

Thomas Millet of Gloucester, in ye County of Essex, bought of 
Benjamin Ingersoll of Falmouth, fifty acres of land in Falmouth. 
Deed dated May 5, 1722. 29 

Thomas Millet of Falmouth, in ye County of York, bought of 
John Jeffards of Boxford, in ye County of Essex, one acre lot with 
frame in first division ; three acre lot in second division ; thirty 



( 27 ) Maine Wills, 1640-1760: 438. 

( 2S ) York County Deeds, Book 11, Folio 201. 

( 29 ) Ibid., Book 11, Folio 200. 



acres in the third division, all in Falmouth, also his interest in the 
common land in Falmouth. Deed dated February 22, 1724-5. 30 

Proof that Martha Bayley, the wife of Robert Bayley, was the 
daughter of Thomas and Martha Millet, is found in the record of 
several deeds, particularly a -conveyance by Robert Bayley to Moses 
Pearson, February 22, 1737, of all his rights to the common and 
undivided lands in Falmouth, it being : 

All the rights of Comonage of Lands yet undivided, which I have or 
ever shall have by virtue of my being an Inhabitant and propr in said town, 
which is one Common Right, and also one-half of a Common Right whicn 
my father-in-law, Millet, bought of one Francis Jeff res, late of said Fal- 
mouth, and left by my said father-in-law to my mother-in-law, Millet, the 
which I purchased of her. 31 

Rev. Thomas Smith, referring to Thomas Millet, says : 

The early settlers of this name were Thomas and John, who were both 
Proprietors in the common land. Thomas died January 21, 1730, aged 59, 
leaving a widow, Martha. Thomas Millet had taken a house lot on the 
Neck previous to 1722, on Congress Street, which was confirmed to him in 
1724; he was probably one of Major Moody's soldiers. 

Under date of September 3, 1741, he makes the following record 
in his Journal : 

"I preached extempor at Mrs. Millet's ; had great assistance and 
preached a good sermon." 

On September 9, he writes : 

"I was at the funeral of Mrs. Millet, who dropped away sud- 
denly." 

And September 10, he writes : 

"I preached a funeral sermon on Mrs. Millet." 32 

The Province of Massachusetts Bay, in July, 1722, declared war 
against the Indians, which has been called the "Abenaki War." 
The Indian War raged destructively in Maine during the year. 
Nine families were captured in Merrymeeting Bay, in June, and in 
September, Brunswick and Georgetown were destroyed. 33 

A careful search in the Archives of Massachusetts has failed to 
discover any Muster Roll or Pay Roll of Major Moody's soldiers 
that reinforced the garrisons in Falmouth in 1722. 

From the record of the deed of the house and lands purchased by 
Thomas Millet, of Benjamin Larraby, May 3, 1722, and of 
Benjamin Ingersoll, May 5, 1722, it is known that said Millet was 

( 30 ) York County Deeds, Book 11, Folio 201. 

( 31 ) Ibid., Book 27 Folio 321. 

( 32 ) Smith and Deane's Journals, 1849: 100. 

( 33 ) Ibid.. 41. 

10 



then a resident of Gloucester, Mass. In a statement of the Millet 
family, by Mr. Babson in his history of Gloucester, he refers to 
Thomas Millet, who came from England to New England in 1635, 
and to his grandsons, John and Thomas, the latter born in 167 1, 
married Martha Ingersoll in 1695, and had seven children. The 
father and his son John, with their families, removed to Falmouth, 
Maine, about 1724, where the former died January 21, 1730. 34 

In a later statement Mr. Babson says : 

In 1723, Thomas Millet sold to Joseph Allen, for £481, his house and 
land on the westerly side of the meeting-house green and removed to 
Falmouth, Maine. 33 

The earliest record of Thomas Millet, as a resident of Falmouth, 
is the deed of the one acre lot with frame in first division ; three 
acre lot in the second division ; thirty acres in third division, all in 
Falmouth ; also his interest in the common land in Falmouth, 
February 23, 1724-5, as above stated. 

The record clearly indicates that although Thomas Millet made 
his first purchase of land and house in Falmouth early in May., 
1722, that he was detained in Gloucester, Mass., to look after his 
property there, that he did not sell until 1723, and did not remove 
to Falmouth until February, 1724, as stated by historian Babson, 
and indicated by the deed of land he bought of Francis Jeffords 
before cited. 

The large amount of land he purchased in Falmouth, the time 
his land in Gloucester was sold, and the time he became a resident 
in Falmouth, strongly indicate that Parson Smith was in error in 
thinking that Thomas Millet was probably one of Major Moody's 
soldiers. 

Several of the early settlers at Casco Bay and Falmouth, came 
from Gloucester, Mass., and this no doubt had much to do with 
the coming of Thomas Millet to Falmouth, Maine. Both Thomas 
and John were proprietors in the common land in Falmouth. 
Thomas Millet's wife, Martha, was the daughter of Joseph and 
Sarah (Coe) Ingersoll, and granddaughter of Lieutenant George 
Ingersoll, who was a land owner at Casco Bay in 1658, 36 and was 
in command of the military forces there in 1675, in King Phillip's 
War. 



( 34 ) History of the Town of Gloucester, Cape Ann, by John J. Babson, 
i860: 117. 

( 35 ) Notes and Additions to the History of Gloucester, Mass., by John J. 
Babson, 1876: 46. 

( 36 ) York County Deeds, Book 1, Part I, Folio 105. 

II 



From an item in Rev. Thomas Smith's Journal, above quoted, it 
appears that in 1741, before the new meeting-house, erected on the 
site of the First Parish lot on Congress street, was accepted, 
religious services were held in the house of Mrs. Millet, widow of 
Thomas Millet. 

Robert Bayley, and Martha (Millet) Bayley, his wife, were 
members of the First Parish Church in Falmouth (Portland), 
organized in 1725. The records of said church show that Martha 
Bayley became a member October 3, 1726, and Robert Bayley 
became a member September, 1729. 

A foot note in the second edition of Willis' History of Portland, 
states that: 

In 1745, Robert Bayley and his wife, Martha, were dismissed from the 
Church in Falmouth to the Church in North Yarmouth. 37 

In the records of the old town of North Yarmouth, in the hand 
writing of Robert Bayley, when town clerk in 1749, appears the 
following record of his family, viz. : 

Children of Robert and Martha Bayley: 
Bathsheba, born at Biddeford, March 14, 1727; 
Judith, born at Falmouth, September 14, 1730; d. April 25, 1731; 
Hannah, born at Falmouth, May 13, 1732; 
Mary Clark, born at Falmouth, March 10, 1734; 
Robert, Jr., born at Falmouth, June 15, 1736; 
Martha, born at Falmouth, February 8, 1740; 

Naomi, born at North Yarmouth, June 12, 1742; (Bapt. July 4, 1742, in 
the First Church of Falmouth) ; 
Achsah, born at North Yarmouth, April 5, 1748. 

The place and date of birth of his eldest child in Biddeford, 
March 14, 1727, show conclusively that Robert Bayley was married 
and resided in Biddeford before he was admitted a proprietor in 
Falmouth, August 17, 1727. 

The name of Mrs. Martha Bayley does not appear in the old 
book of records of the First Church in North Yarmouth. She 
probably died soon after the birth of her daughter, Achsah, April 
5, 1748. In the Manual of the First Church of North Yarmouth, 
compiled by Rev. David Shipley, in 1848, the name of Robert 
appears as received into membership on public confession, October 
14, 1764; died June 17, 1772. Opposite his name is added: "From 
Biddeford." 

This was probably Robert Bayley who was dismissed from the 
First Church in Falmouth, to the First Church in North Yarmouth. 



( 37 ) History of Portland, Maine, by William Willis, 1865: 366. 

12 



in 1745. Mrs. Bayley was probably deceased; the letter from the 
Church in -Falmouth lost or too old to be accepted, consequently 
Mr. Bayley united with the church on a new confession. "From 
Biddeford" indicates his native town, or town where he resided in 
early manhood, which is also shown by the record of the birth of 
his eldest child born there March 14, 1727, before he was admitted 
a proprietor in Falmouth, August 1% 1727. 

Robert Bayley owned a large farm of two hundred and forty 
acres in North Yarmouth, on which he lived. This land he bought 
of Jacob Royall of Boston, in 1752, and is bounded as follows, viz. : 

Northerly in part by land of Benjamin Mitchell; partly by land of Jacob 
Brown & partly on land of the widow Wyer; easterly on Cussen's River, 
so called; southerly on other land of Jacob Royall, Esqr., & westerly on 
Royall's River, so called. 38 

The trolley road from Portland to Brunswick runs through the 
old Bayley farm, and the landing near the bridge over the eastern 
branch of Cousin's River is called "Bayley's Wharf" to this day. 
The granite quarry, known as "Bayley's Ledge," takes its name 
from Robert Bayley, the owner in Colonial days. 

Dr. Banks, in "Old Times," 39 gives items of value relating to 
Robert Bayley and his family, gathered from the records of the 
town and First Church in North Yarmouth, viz. : 

Bayley, Robert, 40 wf. Martha (Clark?) ; ch. Bathsheba, (Biddeford), March 
14. 1727. m. Eliah Royall, June 17, 1746; Judith, b. Sept. 14, 1730 (Fal- 
mouth), d. there Apr. 25, 1731 ; Hannah, b. May 13, 1732 (Fal.) ; Mary 
Clark, b. Mar. 10, 1734, (Fal.), m. Ambrose Talbot, Nov. 28, 1754; Robert, 
b June 15, 1736 (Fal.), m. Mary Hammon, Dec. 21, 1758; Martha, b. Feb. 8, 
1740 (Fal.), d. June 14, 1814, 41 m. John Worthly, Oct (Nov.?) 2, 1758 f 
Naomi, b. June 12, 1742, bap. July 4, 1742, 43 m. Samuel Winthrop Royall, 
May 2.2., 1759 ; 44 Achsah, b. April 5, 1748; Robert (above), ch.; Robert bapt. 
July 13, 1760. 45 

Naomi and Achsah, the last named children, were born in North 
Yarmouth, according to the town record made by their father when 
town clerk in 1749. 



( 38 ) York County Deeds, Book 31, Folio 49. 

( 39 ) Old Times in North Yarmouth, by Dr. Charles E. Banks, p. 907. 

( 40 ) 225 1st Ch. Oct. 14, 1764, from Biddeford? 

( 41 ) 294, 1st Ch. 
O pp. 660, 786. 
C) P. 613. 

(") PP- 579, 660. 
C) P- 66 7 . 

13 



It will be noticed in the article of Dr. Banks above referred to, 
that an interrogation point is placed after the words "From Bidde- 
ford?" relating to Robert Bayley. While he came from Falmouth 
to North Yarmouth, he came from Biddeford to Falmouth, and 
it was so stated in the records of the First Church in North Yar- 
mouth to indicate his native town or town from whence he came 
to Falmouth, made probably from his own statement. It will also 
be noticed that the name (Clark?) is inserted in parenthesis, with 
an interrogation point after the name of his wife, "Martha," as 
indicating her family name. The name of "Clark" as the family 
name of his wife, was no doubt suggested by the double name of 
his daughter, "Mary Clark," but it is amply proved that the maiden 
name of Robert Bayley's wife was Martha Millet. Why the name 
"Clark" was added to the name of his daughter, Mary, when all 
the other children had but one name, is not known, but it is known 
that it was not the family name of her mother. 

Two of the daughters of Robert and Martha (Millet) Bayley, 
married into the prominent Royall family in North Yarmouth in 
Colonial days, Bethsheba and Naomi. 

These sisters married brothers, viz. : Bathsheba Bayley married 
Eliah Royall, and Naomi Bayley married Samuel Winthrop Royall. 
They were the sons of Samuel Royall, grandsons of William 
Royall, Jr., and great grandson of William Royall who came from 
England in 1626, and settled near the mouth of the river then called 
"Wescustogo," now called Royall's River in his honor. 

Thomas Gorges, Esq., Deputy Governor of the Province of 
Maine, in behalf of Sr. Ferdinando Gorges, Knight, Lord proprie- 
tor of said Province, for divers good causes and considerations, 
made a grant of land to William Royall of Casco, it being: 

the land whereon his house standeth, being bounded on the south with 
the sea ; also an island before his house, being by estimation twenty acres, 
be it more or less ; also land bounded on the south side with the river of 
Westgustuggo ; on the north side with the river of Chusquisaeke, being by 
estimation two hundred and fifty acres, be it more or less. Deed dated 2j 
March, 1643. 46 

This land conveyed to William Royall in 1643, is the larger part 
of the identical land conveyed by Jacob Royall of Boston, Mass., 
a brother of Eliah Royall and Samuel Winthrop Royall, to Robert 
Bayley, in 1752, and became the Robert Bayley homestead. 



( 46 ) York County Deeds, Book I, Part II, Folio 2, 3. 



Mary Clark Bayley, fourth child of Robert and Martha (Millet) 
Bayley, married Ambrose Talbot, November 28, 1754, and became 
the mother of the first Talbot family in Maine of which there is 
any record. 

Ambrose Talbot, the son of Roger 47 and Hannah (Trarise) 
Talbot of Boston, Mass., and grandson of Ambrose and Jane 
(Metcalf) Talbot, of London, England, in early manhood (about 
1747) came from Dorchester, Mass., to North Yarmouth. 

He bought of Jeremiah Powell, Esq., 48 one hundred and fifty 
acres of land in North Yarmouth within the County of York and 
Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England. Said land 
is located at a place then known as "Harraseeket," at Strout's 
Point on Casco Bay, now in the town of Freeport, in the County 
of Cumberland, and State of Maine. (First house west of the 
former Casco Castle on the Trolley Road between Portland and 
Brunswick). Deed dated March 3, 1759, but not recorded until 
22 April, 1767. 49 This farm has never passed from the Talbot 
name. After a period of one hundred and fifty-seven years, in the 
ownership of descendants, it is now (1916) owned and occupied by 
Mr. Herbert S. Talbot, a lineal descendant of the first owner of the 
family name. 

Ambrose and Mary Clark (Bayley) Talbot had a good Colonial 
family of eleven children all born in the homestead in North 



( 47 ) Roger Talbot came to Boston, Mass., about 1711, and the time, with 
other evidence, indicate that he came in a government ship. He was a 
grandson of Roger Talbot, Esquire, M. P. of Thornton, County of York, 
England, and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Ambrose Pudsey, of Bolton 
in Bolland, County of York, England. His father's first cousin, Jane Pudsey, 
was the wife of Sir Hovenden Walker, a rear-admiral in the British Navy, 
who was sent to Boston in the summer of 171 1, in command of a fleet for 
an expedition against Quebec, via the St. Lawrence River, which terminated 
disastrously. Roger Talbot probably came to New England in this expe- 
dition, through his connection with Admiral Walker. He was the second 
officer in command of the armed Sloop George, in the Colonial Navy of the 
Province of Massachusetts Bay, in the Abenaki War in 1722-23, and acting 
Cap'tain after the Captain was mortally wounded by the Indians, in passing 
the mouth of the Kennebec River, when transporting troops and supplies to 
forts on the coast of Maine. 

( 48 ) Honorable Jeremiah Powell, the former owner of this land was Rep- 
resentative to the General Court eleven years, having been first chosen in 
1766. He removed to Boston for a time and was President of the first 
Senate under the Constitution of Massachusetts in 1780. 

( 49 ) Cumberland County Deeds, Book 3, p. 63, and on back of p. 64. 



Yarmouth, before that town was set off in 1789, and became 
Freeport, viz. : 

Samuel, b. Aug. 25, 1755, m. Phebe Hallowell, Jan., 1782, (No children) ; 
Hannah, b. Aug. 15, 1757, m. Jonathan Byram, Dec. 21, 1780; Ambrose, Jr., 
(3rd), b. Sept. 7, 1760, m. Olive Carter July 19, 1792; Joseph, b. Jan. 16, 
1763, m. Sarah Patrick, Dec. 24, 1795; Mary, b. Aug. 11, 1765, d. Aug. 28, 
1766; Phebe, b. May 29, 1767, d. unm. Feb. 2, 1814; Asa, b. Jan. 30, 1769, 
m. Abigail Johnson, Sept. -2"], 1792; Simeon, b. Nov. 1, 1771, m. Dorcas 
Fogg, Dec. 30, 1802; Robert Bayley, b. March 14, 1774, m. Joanna Thoits, 
Jan. 13, 1803 ; Sarah, b. Sept. 29, 1776, m. Edmund Pratt, Jan. 20, 1797. 
(One of the first deacons of the First Baptist Church in Freeport which 
position be continued worthily to rill for fifty-seven years until his death) ; 
Rachel, b. March 9, 1779, d. unm. April 17, 1800. 

Ambrose Talbot was a veteran of the French and Indian Wars, 
as indicated in Muster Rolls and Pay Rolls in the Archives of 
Massachusetts. Both he and his three eldest sons were soldiers 
of the American Revolution, his eldest son, Samuel, serving three 
3'ears in the Massachusetts line in the Continental Army. The 
service of each appears in "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in 
the War of the Revolution." A younger son (Simeon) was a 
soldier of the War of 1812, and the record is in the Archives of 
the State of Maine. 

Ambrose Talbot, was, more than all and everything, from his 
youth and early manhood, distinctively, a churchman. He was a 
member in Dorchester, of a society of young men mutually joined 
together in the service of God. In 1742, he, then an adult person, 
became a member of the First Church in Dorchester, Mass. The 
records of the First Church in North Yarmouth, show that he and 
his wife, Mary Clark (Bayley) Talbot, were members of that 
Church thirty-four years. They were founders of the First Church 
in Freeport. When the town of Freeport was taken from North 
Yarmouth and incorporated, February 14, 1789, it was at the same 
time made a distinct parish by the General Court of Massachusetts. 

The First Church in Freeport was organized within the new 
parish December 29, 1789, and it is recorded that Ambrose Talbot 
was the first deacon, he being unanimously chosen, May 15, 1790, 
and continued to serve in that position for fourteen years, until his 
death. There were at one time four legal voters in Freeport by 
the name of Ambrose Talbot, and they were numbered according 
to their ages, except the eldest, who was always known as "Deacon 
Ambrose Talbot," and as such he will ever live in the records of 
the town and of the First Church in Freeport, Maine. 

16 



Robert Bayley had only one son, Robert Bayley, Jr., who married 
Mary Hammon, December 21, 1756. He settled in New Gloucester, 
Maine. From the article of Dr. Banks in "Old Times in North 
Yarmouth," above quoted, the record of the First Church in North 
Yarmouth, indicates that he had a son, Robert, baptized July 13, 
1760. 

Robert Bayley conveyed to his son, Robert Bayley, Jr., one entire 
lot of land in New Gloucester, Maine, it being according to the 
deed, "A whole right in said town, and numbered six in the first 
division." Deed dated December 4, 1767. 50 

Robert Bayley, Jr., was an extensive land owner as was his 
father, which is clearly shown by the record of deeds of land con- 
veyance. He was Sergeant from New Gloucester, in Captain 
Moses Merrill's company, in Colonel Edmund Phinney's regiment 
(31st) in 1775. 51 

No record of the service of Robert Bayley, Senior, as school- 
master, appears after his employment in North Yarmouth in 1750, 
owing, probably, to his military service against the French and 
Indians. He was Sentinel in active service in Captain William 
Lithgow's company at Fort Richmond, on the Kennebec River, 
from March 21, to September 12, 1754. 52 

From a list of the first company of Militia in North Yarmouth, 
dated May 18, 1757, it appears that Robert Bayley was Sentinel 
in Captain Solomon Mitchell's Train Band (His son-in-law, 
Ambrose Talbot, was Sentinel in same company), in Colonel Ezekiel 
Cushing's regiment. List dated May 18, 1757. 53 

It appears that Robert Bayley was a private from North Yar- 
mouth in Captain Samuel Cobb's Company, in Colonel Jedidiah 
Preble's regiment, raised by the Province of Massachusetts Bay, 
for the reduction of Canada. Service from April 8 to November 20, 

I758. 54 

Robert Bayley always spelled his name "Bayley," the old English 
style. The entry in the record of the First Church in North 
Yarmouth, that "Robert Bayley died June 17, 1772." is the only 



( 50 ) Cumberland County Deeds, Book 3, Folio 157. 

( 51 ) Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, Vol. 
1 : 883. 

( 52 ) Massachusetts Archives, Muster Rolls, Vol. 93: 128. 

( 53 ) Massachusetts Archives. Vol. 95: 383. 

( 54 ) Massachusetts Archives, Muster Rolls, Vol. 97 : 58. 



17 

\ 



record of his death that has been found. No stone has been found 
that marks his grave, or that of his wife, Martha, although diligent 
search has been made in the old burial grounds in old Falmouth, 
and in old North Yarmouth. As the date of his birth has not been 
discovered, the years that he attained is not known for certainty, 
but it is quite sure that he was at least twenty-one years of age 
When he was admitted a proprietor in Falmouth, August 17, 1727, 
which would indicate that he was born as early as 1706, and his 
death in 1772, would make his age at least sixty-six years. More 
than this is not known. 

From the written fragments that remain it is known that Robert 
Bayley was an active business man, and leading citizen in Falmouth 
and North Yarmouth, in Colonial days ; the first school-master in 
what is now Portland, Maine ; the first in Cumberland County, 
and one of the first in the State of Maine; a pioneer educator, 
and patriot, whose memory should be revered and cherished, not 
only by his descendants, but by the citizens of the whole State of 
Maine. 

Referring to the above paper the Portland Evening Express, in 
its issue of May 25, 1916, said: 

The last paper of the series of 1915-1916 was read yesterday afternoon 
before a large and appreciative audience, including about 50 girl pupils from 
the Portland High School, in the lecture room of the Maine Historical 
Library, by Honorable Archie Lee Talbot of Lewiston. The subject of Mr. 
Talbot's interesting paper was The First Schoolmaster in Falmouth (Port- 
land), Maine, and Some of His Descendants. Mr. Talbot's suggestion at 
the close of his paper that a memorial tablet to Robert Bayley, Portland's 
first schoolmaster, be placed in the new High School, now building, was 
received with applause. 

Deacon Ambrose Talbot, the first deacon of the First Church in 
Freeport, Maine, was a pioneer settler, the first of the Talbot name 
in Maine, and the great, great grandfather of Archie Lee Talbot, 
the writer of this sketch. 



18 



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